HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. Speaker, I am sure now technology is in agreement with us. Mr. Speaker, I was saying that I want to thank Hon. Members for the robust debate. In fact, so many Hon. Members were eager to debate this protocol and I think it is a commendable thing. Often times we pass these protocols without much debate, this is actually refreshing.
Going to the debate, I want to thank Hon. Gonese. His concern was that we are not bringing these protocols for approval frequently enough. His sentiments were echoed by Hon. Madzimure who indicated that we are sleeping on duty. Mr. Speaker Sir, let me indicate that since the Second Republic came into being, in fact His Excellency is one who wants us all to obey the rules and whatever we are supposed to obey. In fact, in upholding the rule of law, he is very excellent in that regard. He wants us to ensure that we comply with whatever we are supposed to comply with. If you have noticed Mr. Speaker Sir, for the past four years, the number of treaties that have been approved by this august House is actually more than what has been approved in several years. It is an indication of the kind of man he is.
We went further and brought an International Treaties Bill to this Parliament, it is now an Act which then allows us to publish all the international treaties that we would have ratified. So, in terms of the appetite to ensure that we are in compliance with our legal obligations, I would like to applaud His Excellency, he has pushed all of us to make sure that we satisfy that; not only that, even reports from independent commissions. You have noticed how we have managed to ensure that we come up to date by presenting them to Parliament.
However, I also have to indicate that once a treaty has been signed by the President or a representative, it is not automatic that we must rush to bring it to Parliament. We also need to ensure that it goes through all the requisite legal processes in-country, before submitting to Parliament. We also have to scrutinise it; there are certain things that even though the President has signed, you may find that we have reservations about certain clauses or articles. So, we also had to go through the necessary Cabinet Committees and because of the number of treaties that have been coming to Parliament, these committees also have been overwhelmed, notwithstanding that we also had COVID for about one and a half years. I just wanted to clarify on that issue to say that it is not a deliberate thing but we are very much for the ratification of most of our treaties.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I agree with the majority of the presentations. In fact, we have artificial boundaries and I agree with the presentation by Hon. Mudarikwa and Hon. Biti that have affected us as a country.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order. Hon. Chief, you cannot be up standing when an Hon. Member is having the floor. You should have sat next to your colleagues there to whisper whatever you wanted to whisper. Hon. Minister, please proceed.
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I was just indicating that I support that as a continent, perhaps at the top we need to relook the issue of our borders and move towards integration. The article does not speak to that. In fact, this is one step towards that. I believe we need to move in that direction. You also commented on what Hon. Mliswa presented. I will not go beyond what you said because I agree with that, that perhaps our Parliament Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and Parliament at large, must also take an active role in reminding the Executive of their duties.
I did not see any connection with Hon. Hamauswa’s diaspora voting inclusion. It is not even there in the protocol. Perhaps he was speaking his mind about issues that he is passionate about but that are not a subject matter of the protocol. Having said that Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to thank the Hon. Members and yourself and move that Parliament do approve the protocol. Thank you.
